If you weren’t enthralled by the New England Patriots’ 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game on Sunday, January 25, the mayor of Kansas City can explain why.
“Sorry about that AFC Championship, y’all. Pretty slow,” Mayor Quinton Lucas wrote via X after the game. “This is what happens when Kansas City isn’t in it. Be back soon.”
Rather than seeing the star-studded Chiefs roster make another run at Super Bowl glory, fans instead saw the Patriots and Broncos battle the elements in Denver. The snow and wind had a clear impact on both offenses, making it hard to blame either team for the lack of scoring.
Still, it must have been a jarring sight for Chiefs Kingdom. The 2025-26 season marks the first time since 2017 that the Chiefs were not in the AFC title game. Since then, they have won three Super Bowls and appeared in two more.
This just wasn’t Kansas City’s year. The Chiefs went 6-11, losing all but two of those games by one score. It was the first time since 2014 that they missed the playoffs.
“There hasn’t been a better 11 year run in the history of Kansas City sports,” Lucas, 41, wrote via X on December 14, the day the Chiefs were officially eliminated from playoff contention. “The Chiefs have been a whole lot of it.”
That stretch began in 2014 with the Kansas City Royals winning their first American League pennant since 1985. They won the World Series the next year, and in 2016, the Chiefs began their run of nine straight AFC West titles.
As impressive as this run has been for Kansas City sports, both franchises may soon leave town. The Chiefs have already announced they will relocate to Kansas when their lease at Arrowhead Stadium expires after the 2030 season. The Royals may follow.
“Today is a loss for the Arrowhead tradition that so many of us in the Chiefs Kingdom hold dear,” Lucas wrote in a statement in December 2025 when the Chiefs announced their intention to move. “At the new location, folks will make new memories.”
He continued, “Years ago as a kid, my family was homeless for a while and we lived in a motel not too far from the stadium. I knew we struggled, but I believed nothing was cooler than living within a stone’s throw of what I thought then and today is the greatest stadium in football. Like a lot of parents in Chiefs kingdom, my single mother scraped some money together to get me to Arrowhead for my first game — 300 level upper deck for a 30 to 7 preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills in 1993. I have been hooked ever since.”
“Business decisions are a reality, and we all understand that,” he concluded. “But Arrowhead Stadium is more — it’s family, tradition, and a part of Kansas City we will never leave.”
Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt, on the other hand, called the announcement “an extraordinary day” in the franchise’s history.
“We are excited to partner with the State of Kansas to bring a world-class stadium to our fans,” he said in a statement. “This project represents another step in our legacy of innovation and our fan-first mentality, which started with my father, Lamar Hunt. The stadium, practice facility, and surrounding development will benefit the entire region, and further elevate Kansas City in the eyes of the country and the world.”
